Say What?

Rachel was back at Canvas and Chardonnay a few nights ago. She texted Tammy and me this photo of the painting she'd done but we couldn't figure out what it was or if it was a finished product. Hmmm. A little later she sent us the completed painting (photo to the left). I think this is her third time taking a class there. I told her she should look into applying for a job there teaching classes. I could very much see her doing that. Oops...I just forgot...she's moving home in a few weeks! Tammy has been preparing for her mother to come and stay with us at the end of May. She's purchased a wheelchair that we can use to take her out and about. We'll have walkers on each level of our home for her to more safely get around and minimize her risk of falling. I don't think I can fully appreciate just how big of an undertaking this is going to be but we know it's the right thing to do. Tammy has many years of experience in this area so I'll just follow her l

I received some very good news Monday night in a call from Dr. Johnstone. I posted the news to my Facebook wall: "I just got off the phone with my doctor/surgeon. She updated me on my CT scan from last Wednesday and used the word "lovely" a few times to describe what she saw. The clot in my left common iliac artery that had an irregular shape and was most concerning to her was no longer there. Wow! I wasn't expecting to hear that at all. The clot in my right iliac artery had diminished in size. Another wow! I thank God and medical science for that great news and anybody who may have offered up their prayers or good thoughts or well-wishes. This is welcome news to me/us." I had mentally prepared myself for a result that would have had me undergoing a surgical procedure that would've meant the end of my career and months of recovery. This gives me some breathing room and I'm once again focused on a retirement date of 1/2/2016, 259 days from now. Our

I had another CT scan on Wednesday morning. The results of the scan were to give my surgeon a better idea about the timetable for performing bypass surgery on my common iliac arteries. I was expecting a call with the results but I've heard nothing yet. I would think that if there was anything of urgency on the scan she would've gotten in touch with me by now. We took a drive into St Paul Friday morning to take in the American Craft Council art show. It's a yearly thing we try and do since first attending maybe 10 years ago. We came close to getting Tammy a new Ann Ringness purse but she opted to get some more miles out of the one I bought for her a few years ago. Perhaps we'll see Ann again at the Uptown Art Fair in August and get one then. We chatted for a while with David Royce, one of the glassblowing artists we met when we first began at Foci. His work is so beautiful and unique. On the way back to our car I noticed some pigeons walking along the metal supports

Tammy has officially joined the ranks of the retired. She went into work last Monday to turn in all of her equipment  and do one final shift . Nearly all of her coworkers also work from home but a few showed up at the office to give her a surprise retirement party, something that seldom happens there. She was surprised! I was so happy for her when she told me that. She deserved it. After the party, she asked if she could be excused for the 2nd half of the day because her head just wasn't with Optum anymore. Her supervisor understood and with that, she left the world of nursing (although I know it will always be in her heart). We met up at home in the afternoon and I could see from the look on her face that a huge weight had been lifted from her. The work should've been much more rewarding than it was but Optum had a way of adding layers of stress through metrics that took all of the fun out of it. We took the pups to the dog park and let the idea that she no longer has to